Angle feed chipper with card breaker

ABSTRACT

A disk chipper in which a log or other large piece of wood is fed to a rotating disk having a series of radially oriented slots extending through it and a chipper blade positioned adjacent each of the slots. In order to break up cards which pass through the slots into chips without unduly breaking up chips which are already of an acceptable size, and thereby produce fines, a series of flat bars are mounted behind the working face of the disk spaced apart a distance equal to three to six times the width of an acceptable chip, so that as the cards pass through the slots in the disk, they strike the bars and are broken up into chips of an acceptable size. The base member to which the bars are attached may be adjustably mounted on the chipper so that the position of the bars can be adjusted for optimum performance.

[15] 3,647,151- 1 Mar .7, 1972 United States Patent Artiano et al.

2,566,721 9/1951 Dunbar....................................24lI92 [54]ANGLE FEED CHIPPER WITH CARD BREAKER Primary Examiner-Theron E. Condon[72] Inventors: Adrian Artiano; Robert M. Brown, both of Ammey M3recha|,Biebel, French & Bugs Everett, Wash.

ABSTRACT A disk chipper in which a log or other large piece of wood isfed to a rotating disk having a series of radially oriented slotsextending through it and a chipper blade positioned adjacent each of theslots. In order to break up cards which pass through the slots intochips without unduly breaking up chips which are already of anacceptable size, and thereby produce fines, a series of flat bars aremounted behind the working face of the disk spaced apart a distanceequal to three to six times the width of an acceptable chip, so that asthe cards pass through the slots in the disk, they strike the bars andare broken up into chips of an acceptable size. The base member to whichthe bars are attached may be adjustably mounted on the chipper so thatthe position of the bars can be adjusted for optimum performance.

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685,018 10/1901 Unser......................................241/922,172,449 9/1939 Pelotetal................................241/92l0Claims,l0DrawingFigum s a r PATENTtDMAR 7 I972 sum 2 or 3 FIG-4 FIG-5FIG-6 ANGLE FEED CIIIPPER WITH CARD BREAKER I BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION In the preparation of papermaking pulp, and to some extent inother forest product manufacturing processes, it is necessary to reducelogs or other large pieces of wood into small, chip size segments. Oneof the most common ways of accomplishing this is to use a rotarychipper. A rotary chipper utilizes a rotatable disk having a series ofslots formed through it and a series of chipper blades positionedadjacent the slots. Logs or other large pieces of wood are fed to theworking face of the disk and the shearing action of the chipper bladescauses groups of chips loosely connected together by wood fibers,referred to as cards, to be severed from the log and pass through theslots in the disk. In order to break the cards into chip size segments,it is common practice to mount a series of fingers on the back face ofthe disk which intermesh with stationary fingers and break the cardsinto chips. One disadvantage of this method of card breaking is that agreat number of the chips are crushed by the intermeshing fingers,resulting in an inordinate amount of fines or pin chips.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A plate member is mounted within the diskhousing behind the working face of the disk and is provided with aseries of bars attached to its surface, spaced from each other adistance equal to three to six times the width of an acceptable sizechip and extending in a direction normal to the axis of rotation of thedisk. In this way, most of the larger cards passing through the slotsare projected against the bars and caused to break into chip sizesegments. Since the majority of the chips which are already of anacceptable size will pass between the bars, they will not be broken downfurther and the production of undesirable fines and pin chips is kept ata minimum. Additionally, even when a chip strikes a bar, because it hasconsiderably less mass than the larger cards, there is considerably lesstendency for the chip to break down further.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of agravity fed conventional chipper which may incorporate the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view showing cards being projected against a card breaker;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the attaching brackets which permitadjustment of the position of the card breaker within the gravity fedchipper housing;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a horizontal feed chipper with portions brokenaway to show a second form of card breaker;

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of the chipper of FIG. 7, also withportions broken away to show the card breaker;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the card breaker used in the horizontal feedchipper; and

FIG. 10 shows a modified form of card breaker bar.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As seen in FIG. I of thedrawings, a disk chipper 10 is provided with a chute ll inclined withrespect to the working face of a disk 12 mounted within a housing 13with the axis of the chute l1 offset with respect to the axis ofrotation 14 of the disk 12. The disk 12 has a series of blades 15mounted on its surface adjacent a series of radially extending slots 16.As logs or other large pieces of wood are fed into the chute 11, theirweight causes them to be brought into contact with the rapidly revolvingblades 15. This causes chunks of wood consisting of series of looselyinterconnected chips, or cards, to be severed from the end of the woodbeing fed into the chute and ejected through the slots 16 where theyimpinge upon the card breaker of the present invention, referenced inits entirety by the numeral 20.

As best seen in FIGS. 2-4, the card breaker 20 comprises a fiatbaseplate member 21 having a series of bars 22 affixed thereto bywelding or the like. The bars are attached to. the plate 21 in spacedparallel relationship to each other and positioned apart from each othera distance equal to approximately three to six times the desired widthof a chip. The base member 21 with the bars 22 attached may be thenplaced as a unit in the housing of the chipper and attached to a channel23 by means of bolts 24 received in apertures 25 formed in the web ofthe channel, with the channel attached to a portion of the chipper in amanner described below. Preferably the card breaker 20 is positionedwithin the housing behind the working face of the disk, beneath the axisof rotation thereof, and offset with respect thereto.

With the card breaker thus installed in the disk chipper, cards 30 or31, as seen in FIG. 5, are projected through the slots 16 of the diskagainst the stationary bars 22. Each of the cards consists of two ormore chip-size segments 32 loosely connected together by fibers, and thestriking of the cards against the bars 22 causes them to be segregatedinto discrete chips 32. Thus, if a card 30 strikes a bar adjacent thejuncture of two chips, the chips tend to be bent, at their point ofjuncture, about the portion of the bar which they contact. On the otherhand, if a card 31 of sufficient size to span two or more bars strikesthe bars, the momentum of the card will cause it to deflect from theportions of the bars which it is contacting toward the base 21. Ineither case the effect is to break the cards down to a more acceptablesize.

However, because the bars are spaced apart a distance greater than thewidth of an acceptable size chip, the majority of such chips will passbetween the bars 22 and not be broken down further, thereby reducing theamount of fines. Additionally, even if a chip of acceptable size doesstrike one of the bars 22, because the mass of a chip is appreciablyless than that of a card, and a chip is a more coherent unit, thetendency for a chip to break down further will be appreciably less.

Because the characteristics of different woods vary considerably and theoperating conditions under which the card breaker of the presentinvention performs are also subject to variation, it is desirable toprovide means for adjusting the position of the card breaker 20 withrespect to the other components of the chipper. Specifically, it isdesirable to provide for some degree of the adjustment in a directionparallel to the axis of the disk 12 and angularly about a line extendinghorizontally normal thereto, as shown by the arrows 40 and 41,respectively. Also, because the velocity of the chips thrown off fromthe disk 12 adjacent the periphery thereof will ordinarily be greaterthan that of chips thrown off near the axis of the disk, it is desirableto provide for some degree of adjustment angularly about a line runningvertically normal to the axis of the chipper, as shown by the arrow 42,FIG. 4.

While any suitable means for providing such adjustability is acceptable,one manner in which this may be accomplished is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.As seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the brackets 23 may comprise a pair of platemembers 50, each having an essentially circular opening 51 and anarcuate opening 52 formed therein and receiving threaded bolts 53. Asecond plate member 54 is secured to plate 50 at right angles theretoand has apertures 55 formed therein for receiving the bolts 56 whichalso pass through identical slots 57 formed in the legs 58 of thechannel member 23, adjacent each end thereof. A pair of angle members 60are secured to a portion of the chipper by means of bolts 61 which passthe apertures 62 in one leg thereof. The other leg has elongated slots63 formed therein through which the bolts 53 pass and are securedtherein by nuts 64.

Thus, if it is desired to adjust the card breaker in a directionparallel to the axis of the disk 12, as indicated by arrow 40, FIG. 2,the nuts 53 are loosened and the card breaker moved either forwardly orrearwardly with respect to the disk. Movement in a direction angularlyabout a line extending horizontally normal with respect to the axis 14,as shown by the arrow 41, may also be accomplished by merely pivotingthe channel and card breaker about the upper bolt 53 and allowing thelower bolt to ride in its arcuate opening 52. Adjustment in a directionangularly about a line extending vertical normal with respect to axis14, as shown bythe arrow 42, is accomplished by loosening the nuts 64adjacent one end of the card breaker and moving the opposite end towardor away from the disk 12, as desired, with the bolts 53 riding in theslots 63.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 through. 9 of the drawings, a second preferredembodiment of the invention will be described. In the chipper 10 shownin FIG. 1 of the drawings the feed chute 11 thereof is inclined withrespect to the horizontal so that logs or other large pieces of wood fedthrough the chute are pressed against the face of the disk by the weightof the piece of wood being chipped. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7and 8 of the drawings, the chipper 70 is of the horizontal feed type,having a feed chute 71, which, although angularly disposed with respectto the axis 72 of the disk, is disposed in a horizontal plane. With thistype of configuration, cards severed from the leading end of the log fedthrough the chute 70 are projected toward the farthermost comer 73 ofthe chipper housing.

Therefore, in this form of the invention, the card breaker 80 comprisesa base member 81 formed of a pair of right angularly disposed portions82 and 83. A series of elongated bars 84 are affixed to the base 81 bymeans of welding or the like so that the bars 84 are more or lessvertically oriented when the card breaker 80 is installed within thechipper housing. In order to obtain the most efficient breakage of thecards, the bars are affixed to the base 81 such that cards propelled bythe disk of the chipper toward the card breaker will strike the leadingedge 85 of the bars rather than the side surfaces 86 thereof. Thus, bar84, located closest to the axis 72 of the disk, is more acutely disposedwith respect to the base portion 83 than is the bar 84" with respect tothe base portion 82.

To provide for installation of the card breaker 80 on the horizontalfeed chipper 70, a pair of plate members 90 and 91 are affixed to theback wall 92 of the chipper housing and extend perpendicularly therefromtowards the front wall of the housing and the base 81 of the cardbreaker may be attached thereto by bolts or the like 93. If desired, theopenings for the bolts 93 in the base member 81 or the brackets 90 and91, or both, may be slotted to provide for adjustability of the cardbreaker.

Although the bars 22 and 84 of the card breakers described above havebeen shown as rectangularly cross sectioned, in accordance with afurther embodiment of the invention, each of the bars 22 or 84 may be ofmore or less sawtooth configuration as seen in FIG. 10 of the drawings.Thus, as seen in FIG. 10, the card breaker may comprise a base member100 having a series of bars 10] attached thereto with each of the barsbeing provided with a series of teeth 102 along its outer edge. Theangle a between the intersecting surfaces 104 and 105 of the teeth mayhave advantageously been formed at approximately 90. This configurationprovides increased card breakage and is particularly advantageous in thebreaking of cards from tougher woods.

From the above, it will be apparent that the present invention providesmeans for breaking cards into chips which is inexpensive and practicallymaintenance free and which accomplishes the desired result with aminimum production of undesirable fines and pin chips. In this regard itshould perhaps be noted that such fines and pin chips are not removableby present methods and represent waste, while oversized chips can berecovered by screening and rechipped. Therefore, even if some cardsescape processing by the card breaker of the present invention they arerecovered and subsequently reduced to an acceptable size without,however, producing an inordinate amount of fines, as in thecard breakersutilizing intermeshing fingers.

While the forms of apparatus herein described constitute preferredembodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to these precise forms of apparatus, and that changes maybe made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In chipping apparatus including a rotating disk having a series ofradially extending slots therethrough, a plurality of chipper bladesmounted on said disk adjacent said slots, a chute inclined and offsetwith respect to the axis of said disk with the end of said chuteterminating adjacent the face of said disk, and a housing enclosing saiddisk, the improvement comprising:

a. means for separating attached chips of wood into discrete chips,

b. said separating means comprising a series of elongated bars mountedon a base member to form a unit therewith and extending in spacedparallel relationship to each other a distance equal to three to sixtimes the width of a chip formed by said chipper blades, and

c. means mounting said unit on the interior of said housing on the sideof said disk opposite said chute with the longitudinal axes of said barsin perpendicular relationship to a plane containing the axis of rotationof said disk.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a. means for adjusting the position of said base member in a directionparallel to the axis of rotation of said disk.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a. means for adjusting said base member angularly about a line extendingvertically normal to the axis of rotation of said disk.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a. means for adjusting said base member angularly about a line extendinghorizontally normal to the axis of rotation of said disk.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a. means for adjusting the position of said base member i. in adirection parallel to the axis of rotation of said disk, ii. angularlyabout a line extending vertically normal to the axis of rotation of saiddisk, and iii. angularly about a line extending horizontally normal tothe axis of rotation of said disk.

6. In chipping apparatus including a rotating disk having front and rearfaces and a peripheral edge, means defining a series of radiallydisposed slots extending through said disk from the front to the rear, aplurality of chipper blades mounted on said disk adjacent said slots, achute inclined and offset with respect to the axis of said disk with theend of said chute terminating adjacent said front face of said disk, anda housing having front and rear portions extending in spacedrelationship to said disk front and rear faces and a peripheral portionenclosing said disk, the improvement comprising:

a. means for separating attached chips of wood into discrete chips,

b. said separating means comprising a series of elongated bars mountedon the interior of said rear and peripheral portions of said housingbehind said rear face of said disk and defining a pair of angularlydisposed portions,

c. said bars in each portion extending in spaced parallel relationshipto each other and perpendicularly to a plane containing said axis ofsaid disk.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising:

a. a base member having a pair of angularly disposed portions,

b. means mounting said bars on said base member, and

0. means mounting said base member in said housing with said angularlydisposed portions overlying said rear and peripheral portions of saidhousing.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein:

a. each of said bars are angularly disposed with respect to the portionof the base member on which it is mounted, and

b. the degree of angular disposition of said bars with respect to saidbase member portions is nonuniform.

9. The apparatus of claim I wherein:

a. said bars are of sawtooth configuration.

10. In chipping apparatus including a rotating disk having a series ofradially disposed slots extending therethrough from a front to a rearface thereof, a plurality of chipper blades mounted on said diskadjacent said slots, a chute inclined and disk, 0. said bars extendingin spaced parallel relationship to each other and perpendicularly to aplane containing said axis of said disk whereby cards passing throughsaid slots in said disk impinge directly on said bars for reduction tochip size segments, and

d. said bars are spaced apart a distance equal to three to six times thewidth of a chip formed by said chipper blades.

1. In chipping apparatus including a rotating disk having a series ofradially extending slots therethrough, a plurality of chipper bladesmounted on said disk adjacent said slots, a chute inclined and offsetwith respect to the axis of said disk with the end of said chuteterminating adjacent the face of said disk, and a housing enclosing saiddisk, the improvement comprising: a. means for separating attached chipsof wood into discrete chips, b. said separating means comprising aseries of elongated bars mounted on a base member to form a unittherewith and extending in spaced parallel relationship to each other adistance equal to three to six times the width of a chip formed by saidchipper blades, and c. means mounting said unit on the interior of saidhousing on the side of said disk opposite said chute with thelongitudinal axes of said bars in perpendicular relationship to a planecontaining the axis of rotation of said disk.
 2. The apparatus of claim1 further comprising: a. means for adjusting the position of said basemember in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of said disk. 3.The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising: a. means for adjusting saidbase member angularly about a line extending vertically normal to theaxis of rotation of said disk.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 furthercomprising: a. means for adjusting said base member angularly about aline extending horizontally normal to the axis of rotation of said disk.5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising: a. means for adjustingthe position of said base member i. in a direction parallel to the axisof rotation of said disk, ii. angularly about a line extendingvertically normal to the axis of rotation of said disk, and iii.angularly about a line extending horizontally normal to the axis ofrotation of said disk.
 6. In chipping apparatus including a rotatingdisk having front and rear faces and a peripheral edge, means defining aseries of radially disposed slots extending through said disk from thefront to the rear, a plurality of chipper blades mounted on said diskadjacent said slots, a chute inclined and offset with respect to theaxis of said disk with the end of said chute terminating adjacent saidfront face of said disk, and a housing having front and rear portionsextending in spaced relationship to said disk front and rear faces and aperipheral portion enclosing said disk, the improvement comprising: a.means for separating attached chips of wood into discrete chips, b. saidseparating means comprising a series of elongated bars mounted on theinterior of said rear and peripheral portions of said housing behindsaid rear face of said disk and defining a pair of angularly disposedportions, c. said bars in each portion extending in spaced parallelrelationship to each other and perpendicularly to a plane containingsaid axis of said disk.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising:a. a base member having a pair of angularly disposed portions, b. meansmounting said bars on said base member, and c. means mounting said basemember in said housing with said angularly disposed portions overlyingsaid rear and peripheral portions of said housing.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 7 wherein: a. each of said bars are angularly disposed withrespect to the portion of the base member on which it is mounted, and b.the degree of angular disposition of said bars with respect to said basemember portions is nonuniform.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: a.said bars are of sawtooth configuration.
 10. In chipping apparatusincluding a rotating disk having a series of radially disposed slotsextending therethrough from a front to a rear face thereof, a pluralityof chipper blades mounted on said disk adjacent said slots, a chuteinclined and offset with respect to the axis of said disk with the endof said chute terminating adjacent said front face of said disk, and ahousing enclosing said front and rear faces of said disk, theimprovement comprising: a. means for separating attached chips of woodinto discrete chips, b. said separating means comprising a series ofelongated bars mounted on the interior of said housing behind and inclosely spaced relationship to said rear face of said disk, c. said barsextending in spaced parallel relationship to each other andperpendicularly to a plane containing said axis of said disk wherebycards passing through said slots in said disk impinge directly on saidbars for reduction to chip size segments, and d. said bars are spacedapart a distance equal to three to six times the width of a chip formedby said chipper blades.